So I need some help with Verification & Validation of software. So I know the definitions of both but ... I can't really find any real entry level books about the process from setting up the requirements of a customer, to making the finished product. And of course, making sure you tested it to what you think it should do, and what the customer actually wants.

Can anyone recommend me any good entry level books, blogs, pretty much anything that just gives an overview of V&V?

I'm pretty much just looking for concrete methods/examples on how to deal with all. I have looked, and found some good (advanced, if you ask me) texts scratching the surface of V&V, but nothing entry level :(

What aspect of verification and validation are you looking for? V&V is an ongoing activity that exists in the context of requirements, system architectures and design, code, documentation, tests, and so on. What specific activities are you interested in? V&V by itself is just an idea - until you apply it to a specific part of a project, you won't get detailed information.
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Thomas Owens♦Mar 10 '12 at 14:42

I'm primarily looking for things that can help me with organizing system requirements, and then when everything is done, verifying them and validating them. I'm just wondering if there were any good techniques on that.
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Enthusiastic ProgrammerMar 10 '12 at 15:06

Like unit tests? Or are you looking for a more formal spec to give to business stake holders?
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wessiyadMar 10 '12 at 17:03

I don't have any idea of what methods there are available to verify or validate sofware. This is pretty much what I'm looking for: How can I verify my software, and how do I validate it? What are the commonly used methods for these things? I know this sounds a big vague, but that's exactly what I mean. I have no idea how deep it runs.
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Enthusiastic ProgrammerMar 10 '12 at 17:37

1 Answer
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One of my professors in college was very big in the Software Testing community and I always found his publications to be very insightful and helpful to people who are new to V & V. His name is Dr Cem Kaner.

From my own personal experience, I can tell you that it's easier to build the system right(meet stated requirements) than it is to build the right system(meet actual needs). Customers rarely know how to communicate what they actually need and the key is to make them involved at every step of the development process to ensure the right product is being built all along the way.

If you involve the customer, the stakeholders, and the future users in the development of the product, the validation mostly takes care of itself and you just have to verify that your code works as expected.

Oh, and read up on Joel Spolsky's views on software testing; especially the invaluable "hallway testing" method, which is vital!